The Government is worried about Reform UK, for reasons that are made obvious by every new opinion poll . Just as evident is the fact that Downing Street is yet to find a reliable and effective argument to deploy against Nigel Farage’s insurgents.

Every couple of days, ministers test out new lines to see how they land. Part of the difficulty is that Farage has been around for so long that he has already weathered most of the attacks that might be deployed against him.

Another challenge is his “plague on all your houses” message, which speaks to the weary disillusionment felt by many voters after years of being badly let down by the traditional main parties.

Thus far, Reform has been able to trade effectively on the basis that it doesn’t necessarily matter if every detail of their ideas

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